Surrey NHS Primary Care Trust have just concluded a series of three consultations with the title, ‘Assuring Access’. These were on Unplanned Care, Planned Care and Outpatients with Diagnostics. These consultations were for local people, - usually from patient or protest groups, local councillors, - district and county representatives with managers and consultants from various parts of the health service.

The process was called ‘co-design’ with a ‘neutral’ academic leading a discussion of the issues arising from small group discussions of different types health care provision in the area. Briefings were sent to representatives for study before all the sessions.

Important issues arising included

(a)the problems of planning services with younger patients using the internet to decide where and when to receive treatment,

(b) the problem of ‘risk aversion’, competance and safety concerns in local centres like small hospitals and surgeries against the need to take services closer to the groups like older people and those living in remote areas

(c) and problems like ‘bedblocking’ which are caused by the division of reponsibility between the NHS and local authorities for, respectively, health and welfare in the community. 

Paul Elderton said, ‘ I was asked to emphasise that many Dorking patients prefer referral to Epsom Hospital rather than a journey to Redhill or Guildford but would prefer to be treated near home. I was pleased to hear that Dorking Hospital might be used for inpatients again.

I enjoyed attending these consultations but it is difficult to know whether decision-makers were influenced by what patient or protest group representatives or local councillors said. We shall now wait for the recommendations to be published and respond to these’.